The experiences of indigenous leaders in the Philippines

The International Institute of Social Studies, Both ENDS, IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands and Mama Cash invite you for presentations by Joan Carling, indigenous leader and women's rights activist from the Philippines and member of the permanent commission on indigenous peoples of the UN, and Jan van de Venis, Human Rights Lawyer at JustLaw, about the experiences of indigenous leaders in the Philippines, in a world of increasing oppression and human right violations against environmental activists.

Indigenous peoples worldwide are involved in the protection of their living environment that often includes the intrusion of international mining companies. This has led to widespread human rights offences and violence against environmental activists.

There is now concern about indigenous leaders in the Philippines that have been earmarked as terrorist suspects by a government that is known for its pro-active campaign on drugs dealing where many suspected dealers have been killed.

Joan Carling is one of the activists whose name is on the list. She is a former expert member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues of the UN (UNPFII). Despite the many statements of concern from the UN, EU, many countries, and INGOs, the branding of environmental activists as terrorists has not yet been revoked.

After the presentation by Joan Carling and Jan van de Venis there will be an opportunity to share, exchange information and concerns, and discuss what we can do in the Netherlands and the EU, with drinks in the ISS bar until 18.00 or longer if you want.

Themes

Partners

Countries

GAGGA rallies the collective power of the women's rights and environmental justice movements to realize a world where women can and do access their rights to water, food security, and a clean, healthy and safe environment.

We congratulate Joan Carling, member of the permanent commission on indigenous peoples of the UN, for having received the Lifetime Achievement Award as 'Champion of the Earth' by the UN Environment! This is the UN's highest environmental honor, given to six of the world's most outstanding environmental change makers once a year.

We are shocked and alarmed by the news that the Philippine government has declared a list of 600 people to be communist terrorists. On the list are mostly indigenous leaders, environmental activists and human rights defenders. Among them are some of our partners, and we are deeply worried about them and the other people on this list.

At the end of November EFLAC, the most important gathering of feminists from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, took place in a park just outside Montevideo, Uruguay. Within Both ENDS, I coordinate the GAGGA programme, in which we promote cooperation between the environmental and women's movements. Our partners Mama Cash and FCAM persuaded me that this meeting was the perfect opportunity to find out whether and, if so, in which way women are interested in the environment. They had prepared me for a very intensive meeting, at which the whole spectrum of emotions would be aroused and expressed. I had no idea what to expect and set off with a completely open mind. And so it came that I spent four days among more than 2,000 women from across the continent.

Latin American partner organizations of GAGGA launched the campaign "We, women, are water" in March 2018. This video was launched as part of this campaign, and emphasizes the role of women water defenders.

The Latin American partner organizations of GAGGA launched the campaign "We, women, are water" in March 2018. This video was launched as part of this campaign, and emphasizes the importance of recognizing water as a common good.

Latin American partner organizations of GAGGA launched the campaign "We, women, are water" in March 2018. This video was launched as part of this campaign, and emphasizes the role of women in the sustainable management of water in Latin America.

It was minus 20 degrees Celsius when 2.000 women gathered at the main square of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to voice their distress about the terrible smog in the city caused by three large power plants. Soon after, the women were invited to speak about the problem of air pollution with the minister of environment.

Women around the globe are at the forefront of addressing the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, designing, implementing, and scaling up their own solutions. Socially defined gender roles often position women and girls as stewards of the physical, economic, and cultural well-being of their communities.

On June 5th, World Environment Day, community members at the southern coast of Guatemala protested against the rapid spread of large-scale palm oil, sugar cane and banana plantations in their region. Utz Che', our local partner organisation, joined the march.

Join us for the third session of this five-part series on women's rights and climate finance, aimed at building knowledge and power to ensure finance flows benefit local women's groups, respond to community needs and respect human rights.

The fifth session of our five part series on women's rights and climate finance, Experiences and Perspectives of Women Engaging in Climate Finance, shared the insights of three activists who have been serving as GCF Monitors as part of the "Women Demand 'Gender-Just' Climate Finance" initiative. They spoke about their processes of learning about climate finance and connecting with others to monitor climate finance in their communities and regions, discussed the value they have found in this work, and answered questions from webinar participants.

The fourth webinar of a five part series on women's rights and climate finance: Strategies for Organizing to Influence, Monitor, and Track Climate Finance (from Global to Local), focused on strategies to engage with various actors to both facilitate and advocate for the meaningful inclusion of the perspectives and experiences of women's groups, affected communities, and other civil society stakeholders in the design and implementation of projects and programs.

On the 14th of April, Both ENDS wil host a workshop called 'Small Grants, Big Impacts' on the annual Africa day in Amsterdam. The workshop aims to demonstrate that so called 'small grants funds' effectively deliver (devopment and climate) money where it matters, to people that need it the most. Large development banks, funds, donors and governments could use small grants funds as alternative financing mechanisms to make sure their money benefits people and their environment now and it the far future.

"How many layers of clothing are you wearing? One? No, that's not enough. You should wear your ski pants over your jeans, and change your shoes for snowboots." And there you are, on day 1 of your trip to Mongolia. I had already heard that Mongolia is very cold at the end of November, and with -22 degrees that seemed to be all true.

The second session of our five part series on women's rights and climate finance, Gender Mainstreaming in Climate Finance Mechanisms, provided an overview of how gender equality has been mainstreamed into global climate finance mechanisms, including a deep dive on gender considerations under the Green Climate Fund by Liane Schalatek of the Heinrich Boell Foundation - North America.

This Introduction to Climate Finance is the first of a five part series on women's rights and climate finance, aiming to build knowledge and power to ensure finance flows are benefiting local women's groups, responding to community needs and respecting human rights. This session will outline the climate finance landscape, as well as the key challenges and opportunities we hope to explore in this webinar series.

During the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the UNFCCC taking place in Katowice, Both ENDS partner Raju Pandit Chettri – director of Prakriti Resources Centre in Nepal - was one of the selected Southern leaders to meet with the Dutch Minister of Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Sigrid Kaag. We asked Raju about his expectations, messages, Kaag's responses and his experiences of the meeting.

Our mission

Together with environmental justice groups from the Global South, Both ENDS works towards a sustainable, fair and inclusive world. We gather and share information about policy and investments that have a direct impact on people and their livelihood, we engage in joint advocacy, we stimulate the dialogue between stakeholders and we promote and support sustainable local alternatives.